A large meteorite, named with name “Great Pumpkin” and the size of four football fields, will approach tomorrow during the Halloween party Earth, where scientists from around the world prepare to witness an unusual phenomenon, that only happens every ten years.
“It will seem a point of light. The human eye can not see and will be the best use a small telescope to view this celestial body so bright, “said Paul Chodas Efe, director of the Center for Near Earth Objects Laboratory NASA JPL in Pasadena (California ).
At 17.01 GMT on Saturday, the space rock, technically called 2015 TB145, it will approach 490,000 kilometers from Earth, meaning that the meteorite will be at a distance slightly Wholesale separating the Moon from our planet, according to the US Space Agency (NASA).
The TB145 has a diameter of about 400 meters and pass near the orbit Earth about 126,000 kilometers per hour without posing a threat to the planet.
“It’s a rare event. Asteroids of this size, so big, does not come close to Earth very often. I would say occurs about once every ten years, “said astronomer Chodas.
According to the catalog of the NASA Near Earth objects, “Great Pumpkin” will be the object pass close to our planet until at least August 2027, when it is expected that the rock 1999 AN10 approaching almost 384,400 kilometers, the same distance that separates our planet from the moon.
According to the astronomer, over asteroid “Great Pumpkin” near Earth is, more that a threat, a chance to enjoy with the kids in Halloween and investigate this type of celestial bodies.
Scientists at the US agency today began to use antennas up to 34 meters long Goldstone complex in California, to launch against the asteroid radio waves that bounce off the surface and be collected by two NASA centers, located in West Virginia and Puerto Rico.
These two centers be responsible for waves and mold collect images of stellar rock that NASA expects to process with a resolution of up to two meters per pixel.
“This is not the first Once we use radar to see the image of an asteroid. But, possibly, this will be one of the times you’ll have a better picture because rarely an asteroid has passed so close to Earth. Tomorrow we will see strong and clear, “Chodas said.
Knowing the structure, surface, composition and evolution of the” Great Pumpkin “ will allow scientists to learn more about how these stellar rocks work and how they can be destroyed.
“It’s good to know more about these bodies should you ever have to divert an asteroid on Earth. This poses no danger, but may one day need to deflect an asteroid and it is important to know as much as we can on the physical characteristics of these bodies, “defended Chodas.
The celestial body was discovered on 10 October for a telescope in Hawaii (USA) and since then there have been calculations to pinpoint its orbit.
The NASA scientists have warned that the gravitational influence the asteroid will have no detectable effect on Earth, as tides or tectonic plate movements.
The best place to keep track of the “Great Pumpkin” will be Europe and Asia because when celestial rock approaching in these continents it’ll be dark and fast race bright meteor can best be seen, said the astronomer.
NASA detects and usually tracks asteroids and comets passing close to Earth using telescopes earth and space with its “observation of near Earth objects” which called “Spaceguard,” to detect if any could be potentially hazardous to the planet.
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